Improvement in roofing compositions



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

JAMES WEST, OF SYRACUSE, NEXV YORK.

IMPROVEMENT |N ROOFING COMPOSITIONS.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JAMES VEST, of the cityof Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga and State of New York, haveinvented a new and useful Composition of Matter for Rooting Purposes;and I hereby declare that the i'oldurable covering, impervious to waterand the action of the atmosphere.

It is particularly designed for roofing.

The following are the ingredients used caoutchouo or india-rubberdissolved in spirits of turpentine or some other suitable solvent,gum-shellac dissolved in alcohol, guttapercha dissolved in linseed-oilor other suitable solvent, a mixture which I call pozzuolana, (which maybe composed of pulverized glass, quick-lime pulverized and sifted, andplaster-of-paris, or marble-dust, or any kind of clay well vitrified andpulverized, or any equivalent substances,) and another mixture which Icall smalt, (which may be composed of vitrified glass,sand, flint,gravel, pounded earthenware, or any equivalent pulverized substanceswhich will withstand the action of the atmosphere,) and naphtha orcoal-tar. The use of lime is indispensahle in the working of thiscement, from the fact that without it the materials do not harden, butbecome friable and undergo apparent decomposition. trary, seems to havethe effect of hardening and curing the mass and rendering it capable ofenduring atmospheric changes without any injurious etfects.

The proportions which I have found best in practice are: to sixteenounces of naphtha, half an ounce of india-rubber, halfan ounce of she]-lac, amlhalf an ounce ofgutta-percha dissolved in the above-mentionedsolvents, two ounces of the pozzuolana and two ounces of the smalt.

The process of using the above composition is to warm the solutions ofindie-rubber, gum shellac, 'gutta percha, and the naphtha to blood-heat.Then mix therewith the pozzuolaoa and immediately apply it with a brushto the roof and rub it smooth or even. Then sift on the sin-alt whilethe compound is green. When used upon wood it is necessary to cover thewood with some textilet'abric, such as burlap or sacking.

What 1 claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The use of lime, in combination with the rubber, gutta-pcrcha, andshellac solutions in the composition as set forth, for the purposespecified.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name this 8th day ofMarch, 1855.

JAMES WEST,

Witnesses:

OHAs. EVERETT, W. R. CORNELL.

The lime, on the con-

